Manchester gains seven new entries in the latest edition of the Waitrose restaurant guide
The Waitrose Good Food Guide has revealed its top restaurants, award winners and guide entries for 2018.
The North West boasts six restaurants in the guide's Top 50, including three in the Top 20.
Unsurprisingly, it is chef Simon Rogan's L'Enclume restaurant in Cumbria which leads the pack, once again scoring a perfect ten for cooking (the sixth year the restaurant has bagged top points) and ranking at number two. L'Enclume was narrowly pipped to top spot by Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall, ending Rogan's five year reign at the top of the list.
The guide's editor, Elizabeth Carter, said “L’Enclume packs a major punch, sure of its stature and pedigree. What Simon Rogan is good at is cooking, plain and simple - the actual transformation of ingredients from their raw state into deep, deliberate tastes. His inspiration is Cumbria, the fiercely seasonal ingredients impeccable.”
Flying the flag for Manchester is Rogan's protege and Great British Menu winner, chef Adam Reid of The French at the Midland, who's in at number seventeen having taken the reins from Rogan when he departed the hotel restaurant in October.
Elsewhere, another of Rogan's flock and former L'Enclume head chef, chef Mark Birchall of Moor Hall in Aughton, goes straight in at 26 having only opened in March.
Meanwhile, the guide's former number one pub in the country, The Freemasons at Wiswell, headed up by chef Steven Smith, bags no.44, while Fraiche in Merseyside takes no.14 and Forest Side in Cumbria no.30.
There are over 1,200 entries in this year's guide, based on anonymous inspections from experts combined with reader feedback which it says helps it recognise more 'unusual eateries', such as Umezushi, 'Manchester's premier purveyor of sushi and sashimi'; Stockport's Where The Light Gets In, '...with no menu, each dish and wine choice is a surprise'; and The Rabbit In The Moon in Urbis, where 'almost everything is black, from the umami-dusted snacks to the heavy curtains - and even the toilet roll!'.
Other new entries in the guide include Hispi in Didsbury, One88 in Whitefield, Porta in Altrincham and The Refuge in the city centre.
See below for the full list of Manchester entries.
The Good Food Guide is available to buy from 4 Sept (RRP £17.99).
Good Food Guide 2018: Manchester entries
Adam Reid at The French, Manchester, Modern British
Aamchi Mumbai, Cheadle, Indian
Albert Square Chop House, Manchester, British
Australasia, Manchester, Pan-Asian
Baratxuri, Ramsbottom, Spanish
Easy Fish Company, Stockport, Seafood
El Gato Negro, Manchester, Spanish
Greens, Manchester, Vegetarian
Hawksmoor, Manchester, British
Hispi, Manchester, Modern British
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester, Indian
Levanter, Ramsbottom, Spanish
Lily's Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, Ashton-under-Lyne, Indian vegetarian
Lunya, Manchester, Spanish
Manchester House, Manchester, Modern British
Nutters, Norden, Modern British
One88, Whitefield, Modern British
Porta, Altrincham, Spanish
Provenance, Westhoughton, Modern British
Refuge, Manchester, International
Sugo, Altrincham
Sugo, Altrincham, Italian
Teacup Kitchen, Manchester, Modern British
The Lime Tree, Manchester, Modern British
The Pasta Factory, Manchester, Italian
The Rabbit in the Moon, Manchester, East Asian
The White Hart, Lydgate, Modern British
TNQ, Manchester, Modern British
Umezushi, Manchester, Japanese
Vero Moderno, Salford, Italian
Volta, Manchester, Modern European
Where the Light Gets In, Stockport, Modern European
Wing's, Manchester, Chinese
Yuzu, Manchester, Japanese
UK Top 50 Restaurants:
1 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (10)
2 L’Enclume, Cumbria (10)
3 Pollen Street Social, London (9)
4 Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottinghamshire (9)
5 The Fat Duck, Berkshire (9)
6 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London (9)
7 Hedone, London (8)
8 Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Tayside (8)
9 Claude Bosi at Bibendum, London (8) New
10 Casamia, Bristol (8)
11 Bohemia, Jersey (8)
12 Ynyshir, Powys (8)
13 Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (8)
14 Fraiche, Merseyside (8)
15 Marcus, London (8)
16 Le Champignon Sauvage, Glos (8)
17 Adam Reid at The French, Manchester (8)
18 The Ledbury, London (8)
19 André Garrett at Cliveden, Berkshire (8)
20 Midsummer House, Cambridgeshire (8)
21 Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London (8)
22 The Peat Inn, Fife (8)
23 The Kitchin, Edinburgh (7)
24 Sketch, Lecture Room & Library, London (7)
25 The Three Chimneys, Isle of Skye (7) New
26 Moor Hall, Lancashire (7) New
27 The Greenhouse, London (7)
28 The Ritz, London (7) New
29 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh (7)
30 Forest Side, Cumbria (7)
31 Orwells, Oxfordshire (7)
32 Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Cornwall (7)
33 Restaurant Marianne, London (7)
34 The Waterside Inn, Berkshire (7)
35 Restaurant James Sommerin, Glamorgan (7)
36 Artichoke, Buckinghamshire (7)
37 The Raby Hunt, Durham (7)
38 Whatley Manor, The Dining Room, Wiltshire (7)
39 Restaurant Story, London (7)
40 Simpsons, Birmingham (7)
41 Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (7)
42 The Sportsman, Kent (7) New
43 Adam’s, Birmingham (7)
44 Freemasons at Wiswell,
Lancashire (7)
45 Gidleigh Park, Devon (7)
46 Le Gavroche, London (7)
47 Hambleton Hall, Rutland (7)
48 Murano, London (7)
49 The Whitebrook, Gwent (7)
50 The Man Behind the Curtain, Leeds (7) New
